Submission fee applies to everyone EXCEPT current subscribers to The Main Street Rag. Current subscribers pay no reading fees for magazine submissions and are permitted to submit one book per year for consideration while their subscriptions remain active. Only use this option if you are a subscribers.

Report time: 3-16 weeks (depending on genre and how busy we are)

Simultaneous submissions permitted as long as the author informs us immediately (through Submittable) when a piece has been accepted elsewhere.

Previously Published material: NO (unless solicited by magazine editor).

Author’s Name and PHYSICAL address must appear on submitted work. We will not read a submission without both.

New Submissions. Once an author’s work is accepted for publication, please wait until after it has been published to submit again.

Submission period: We usually read year round for the literary magazine; however, with Submittable as a submissions processor, reading periods may vary. If an item isn't active, we're not currently reading.

They require I put something in the guidelines field. Since this is so writers can subscribe using Submittable, there are no guidelines, but please tell us whether you want to start with the current issue or the next issue. Publication dates:

Winter: January 15

Spring: April 15

Summer: July 15

Fall: October 15

Also: There is no form to fill address through Submittable, so be sure to put that in a cover letter.

They require I put something in the guidelines field. Since this is so writers can subscribe using Submittable, there are no guidelines, but please tell us whether you want to start with the current issue or the next issue. Publication dates:

Winter: January 15

Spring: April 15

Summer: July 15

Fall: October 15

Also: There is no form to fill address through Submittable, so be sure to put that in a cover letter.

We will tell you whether the subject appeals to us and whether we
will have space for it without the submission fee. As a note: we prefer social or political
themes over How to, process pieces or literary pieces about the life of
a literarian.

Length: up to 6000 words in a single WORD, RTF or PDF file. Author name, contact information, and physical location should appear on the electronic file.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted as long as we are informed immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Likewise, if we accept the work, we expect it to be withdraw from consideration elsewhere.

We will tell you whether the subject appeals to us and whether we
will have space for it without the submission fee. As a note: we prefer social or political
themes over How to, process pieces or literary pieces about the life of
a literarian.

Length: up to 6000 words in a single WORD, RTF or PDF file. Author name, contact information, and physical location should appear on the electronic file.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted as long as we are informed immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. Likewise, if we accept the work, we expect it to be withdraw from consideration elsewhere.

Send 3-5 poems of any length, but no more than 6 total pages of poetry together in a single WORD, RTF or PDF file. Author name, contact information, and physical location should appear on the electronic file.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted as long as we are informed immediately of acceptance elsewhere. Likewise, if we accept the work, we expect it to be withdraw from consideration elsewhere.

Send 3-5 poems of any length, but no more than 6 total pages of poetry together in a single WORD, RTF or PDF file. Author name, contact information, and physical location should appear on the electronic file.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted as long as we are informed immediately of acceptance elsewhere. Likewise, if we accept the work, we expect it to be withdraw from consideration elsewhere.

Most of
our reviews are done by our staff and we prefer books be provided, but will
sometimes review from PDFs. Ask first.

We only
review books published during the current or previous calendar year.

Not
interested in negative reviews, however, discussion of a manuscript's strengths
and weaknesses might include negative aspects.

Title
information must be included with submission along with the following: author
name, publisher, publication date, ISBN, price, page count.

Must
have an ISBN to be considered for review.

Our focus is on publishers and authors who don't get much
attention from mainstream media. Since there are many of those and we like to
(at least) mention as many as possible, review lengths are important and
specific to genre:

Poetry
Chapbooks (52 pages or less): up to 350 words.

Full-length
Poetry or Short Fiction Collections: up to 600 words

Novels,
Nonfiction : up to 800 words

The goal of reviews featured in The
Main Street Rag:

Connecting author to audience. If you can't think of an audience that would
enjoy reading a particular book, then we would not be interested in publishing
your review. We also don't run promo material disguised as review. If you have
a relationship with the author or press, we want to know what that relationship
is prior to considering the review and will scrutinize the review carefully for
objectivity.

Interviews are usually arranged with the managing editor ahead of time rather than submitted by freelance, but for those interested in shopping these, guidelines are below. Prior to sending interview, send query to: editor@mainstreetrag.com. Please note, we are not interested in promotional material disguised as interview.

Prefer
interviews with those in the arts—mostly literary—but visual and performing
arts will also be considered.

Length:
2000-2500 words

If it’s
not someone with whom we are familiar, we’ll need to see a sample of their
work. For example: a copy of a recent book, a website with their artwork.

We will want to run a small sampling of their work in addition to the interview itself. This does not need to be included in the submission.

A subject bio and headshot will eventually be needed. If the subject is a visual artist, we'll also want some pictures of their work.